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Soil erosion in small catchments of the Quercy region (southwester France) during the Holocene

Pascal Bertran

Institut de Préhistoire et de Géologie du Quaternaire/INRAP, bâdtiment de géologie, avenue des faculteés, 33405 Talence, France pascalbertran{at}wanadoo.fr

Erosion rates in two small catchments of the Quercy region (southwestern France) calculated from colluvial deposits trapped in karstic depressions show a progressive increase during the Holocene. Rates lower than 0.2 t.ha-1.yr-1 have been found for the period that covers the beginning of the Holocene to the early Iron Age. The soils buried in the depressions testify to the permanence of a forest cover until the late Neolithic, and to its replacement by a herbaceous vegetation during protohistorical times probably as a consequence of forest clearance and increased grazing by cattle. After the early Iron Age, erosion increased significantly and the mean rate reached 0.8 t.ha-1.yr-1 before Mediaeval times. The associated coarse-grained, crudely stratified colluvium is thought to reflect ploughing of the surrounding fields. Erosion rate increased up to c. 1.3t.ha-1.yr-1 during Mediaeval and modem times.

Key Words: Soil erosion • erosion rates • small catchments • anthropogenic colluvium • Holocene • southwestern France

The Holocene, Vol. 14, No. 4, 597-606 (2004)
DOI: 10.1191/0959683604hl737rp
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[Abstract] [PDF]